Words of wisdom, to help, inspire and encourage. Written in alphabetical order for some fun.

Sunday, 29 November 2015

Extraordinary

E is for Extraordinary

‘Dad, I’m so excited!’ Jessica’s smile lit up the lounge room. She
had jumped out of bed this morning and greeted her father with these words.

‘Morning Jess. What are you excited about?’ Joe asked her.

‘We’re going to Pluto and the moon today!’ she exclaimed, jiggling with the joy she felt.

Joe looked at her and said, ‘Okay.’ When I got up, the heat in the bedroom beginning to feel like a sauna,
Jess greeted me with. ‘Hi Mum, we’re going to Pluto and the moon today!’

I smiled at my daughter, but I had concern too. I didn’t
want her excited about something that we couldn’t make happen for her.

‘Jessica you know we can’t actually go to Pluto and the moon.
You’ll have to go in your imagination.’

Jess’s face immediately dropped and she was silent. She really believed we could.

After breakfast Jess went into her bedroom to get dressed.
She woke Melissa and instructed her big sister, ‘We’re going to Pluto and the moon today. You
need to get up!’ She wasn't giving up on her dream.

Melissa bleary-eyed, stared at her sister. She smiled and
remembered the conversation we’d had over the dinner table the night before.

Jess had asked, what were we doing today? As we had no
specific plans, Joe said as a joke, ‘We’re going to the moon.’ Then Melissa piped in with, ‘And Pluto.’ Pluto is Melissa’s
favourite planet. The discussion turned to flying on the satellite to get
there and you only having 10 seconds to take photos of Pluto. After dinner, the movie Frozen
was on TV. Jessica entertained us with her acting out of the entire movie, and singing
all the songs with the actions.

Nothing more was said about the space mission… until this
morning.

As Jessica was so hung up on going on her space trip, I thought I had to try and make it happen in some small way. No way could we ring NASA and ask them, to drop by our house, and take us into outer space. Instead we could make some playdough rockets and pretend. Jess was happy with that, thankfully. Here is her rocket and astronaut. J

Here she is:

Now what does this little story have to do with my blog
title ‘E for Extraordinary’?

A lot in fact. In Jessica’s mind she could do this extraordinary
thing - travel into outer space. She wasn’t bound by her circumstances or her
limitations. You might be thinking, well she doesn’t know how far the moon is
away. True, she doesn’t know exactly how far away it
is, but she knows it’s a fair way. She knows you need a rocket to get there.

I googled 10 most
extraordinary people in the world. Up popped a large number of sites. I
began to read the names of the people on the list. To be honest, most of the
people I had never heard of. People who were considered prodigies and had high
IQs, and others who had achieved some type of success in life. There were
lists of disabled people, others with ‘superpowers’. It was interesting because
I didn’t see the people who I expected to.I didn’t see Father Chris O’Reilly who helps homeless youth with his
program ‘Youth off the Streets’; I didn’t see Rosie Batty, an advocate for
domestic violence; I didn’t see the Sarah McGrath Foundation who provide Breast
Care nurses; Destiny's Child who rescue girls from a life of prostitution. These and many others, who are leading extraordinary lives.

What does extraordinary mean? ‘Remarkable, beyond usual
ordinary’ is what the dictionary says. If that is the definition, then everyone is capable of leading an
extraordinary life. Can an ordinary person, living in the suburbs, going about
their everyday existence, live an extraordinary life? Yes, of course. I believe
that if you are helping others, and trying to make a positive difference in the circle you live in, then you are in a small way being extraordinary. The world does not change without
people who stand up for good. Who stand up for the injustices in the world. Who stand up for the animals, the environment, and for the vulnerable people
who cannot stand up for themselves. Who try to make the world a better place.

Think about one thing you can to do, but don't just think about it --- do it!

Jenny Woolsey - Author

My Children's Books

About Me :)

Hi I'm Jenny.

I'm a children's author, blogger, teacher and a youth worker. I'm also an advocate for facial differences, mental illness and disabilities.

My life story very quickly:I was born with a craniofacial syndrome, called Crouzon syndrome. I have three children. My eldest two have my syndrome, and my youngest has Down syndrome. During my life I've dealt with bullying, anxiety and depression, post-natal depression, domestic violence, and loss (of loved ones, miscarriages, friendships and financially). I've struggled with a low self-esteem, shyness and feeling different.I also have a visual impairment which prevents me from driving.I went through pioneer craniofacial surgeries. My two eldest children have had many surgeries on their skulls, faces, brains, spines, feet plus the usual tonsils/adenoids and grommets. My youngest had open heart surgery as a baby.My other blog, deals with my journey:http://crouzonsdownsandme.blogspot.com.au/

I'm a Christian and my faith in God has given me the ability to get through my troubles and challenges.

The aim of this blog is to share with you, some of my life experiences and life lessons, so I may encourage you to keep on, keeping on, too.